The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner

 Inspired by the true stories of Jewish children being hidden during WWII. Could you bear to part with your child? What if that meant the only way for your child to survive war?

Poland, 1941. Roza and her five year old daughter Shira hide in a neighbor’s barn. Shira, a musical prodigy, is told to keep quiet, but struggles with it as any child would. Her mother invents elaborate stories to keep Shira engaged with her mind and not words. One of those stories is an imaginary bird who sings the songs she composes in her head.

But when the risks become too much to bear and the food supply is very low, Roza considers her neighbor’s offer to part with her daughter for her protection.

Zosia, as she is named now, lives at a convent. She is even encouraged to play violin, which makes loud noises. Zosia is afraid to make that loud noise at first. But under a tutelage of Sister Nadzieja, Zosia blossoms as violin player.

Roza is hiding in the woods. She needs to make sure that her shoes leave misleading direction if any. There are berries, mushrooms, leaves, roots and such to help her survive in the woods. But when cold winter freezes the grounds, even wood for fire is very sparse.

Touchingly developed characters. When Roza encounters a mother and a child surviving in the woods, her heart bleeds. How could she have thought that separating from her daughter was the right thing to do? Even though, Shira/Zosia thrives in her violin lessons, her heart bleeds for her mother. If only she kept quiet…

Your heart goes to the five year old girl, who doesn’t understand why she needs to hide and be silent, why her father and grandparents are gone, why she can’t go to school like the other kids. She doesn’t mind learning in Polish instead of Yiddish, if only she could go to school.

Deeply moving story weaves human tragedy and triumphs with elegant prose. And the cultural background of music gives this story a rich texture.

Due to plethora of books set in WWII, if you are one of those readers who hesitates to pick another book set in this time period – this book doesn’t involve historical details. Instead it focuses on mother –daughter relationship and longing to be connected again. On a personal note, I usually prefer books with rich historical background, but this story is so deeply moving, it may squeeze some tears out of you at the very end.

Release date: 3 March 2020

Source: Picador